Chapter 19 - Marcus Tells Half the Truth
Marcus finally asked to speak with Claire again.
This time, prosecutors allowed a controlled meeting because he claimed he wanted to explain the scheme before deciding whether to cooperate.
Claire knew it could be manipulation.
She went anyway.
Marcus sat across from her in a government conference room.
No expensive suit.
No polished smile.
Just her brother.
“I hated Dad,” he said.
No introduction.
Claire waited.
“Not every day. That’s the worst part.”
His eyes filled.
“Sometimes he was wonderful. Then he’d make you feel stupid in front of twenty people.”
Claire remembered.
Richard could be merciless in business.
“He did that to me too.”
“Not like me.”
“Probably not.”
Marcus looked surprised by her agreement.
“He never thought I was enough.”
“That may be true.”
“So when he gave you thirty-one percent—”
“You didn’t know that until after he died.”
“I knew he was going to give you more power.”
“How?”
“I read a draft.”
Of course.
Marcus always read what was not meant for him.
“I thought he was punishing me.”
“So you started stealing?”
“I started building something that would be mine.”
“BRC.”
“Yes.”
“With company money.”
“At first, no.”
“At first?”
Marcus rubbed his face.
“Roth brought the idea. I realized we could buy undervalued assets the company didn’t want.”
“Except the company did want Briar Ridge.”
“Dad did.”
“The company owned it.”
“He was the company.”
“And you wanted to be.”
Marcus looked at her.
“Yes.”
The honesty was almost relieving.
“Nolan came later,” Marcus said. “He figured out how passive you’d become.”
Claire flinched.
“He called me passive too.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Keep going.”
“He said you’d sign proxies if they looked like insurance or estate papers. He was right.”
Claire swallowed.
“Nolan suggested the vendor scheme?”
“No.”
“Who did?”
Marcus stared at the table.
“I did.”
There it was.
The half of truth he had avoided.
“I thought we’d use the money temporarily.”
Claire laughed once.
Marcus continued desperately.
“Fund BRC acquisitions, return principal after resale, keep profit outside Dad’s control.”
“That’s still theft.”
“I know.”
“Did you know Nolan was taking money personally?”
“Not until later.”
“And then?”
“I started taking my own.”
Claire leaned back.
“You punished him for stealing by stealing more.”
Marcus almost smiled bitterly.
“When you say it like that.”
“How else should I say it?”
He looked down.
“I never wanted Sophie hurt.”
Claire’s voice became cold.
“You told Nolan not to leave marks.”
Marcus shut his eyes.
“I meant don’t touch her.”
“Then why didn’t you say that?”
“I don’t know.”
“Yes, you do.”
Marcus’s shoulders collapsed.
“Because by then I was thinking like him.”
The room went quiet.
It was the most honest thing Marcus had said.
He wiped his eyes.
“I knew he scared you.”
Claire stared.
“How long?”
“Years.”
“And you said nothing.”
“I needed him.”
There it was again.
Not ignorance.
A choice.
“Did Dad know?”
“That Nolan scared you?”
“Yes.”
“He suspected.”
“Did you talk about it?”
“Once.”
“What did he say?”
Marcus looked ashamed.
“He said we should intervene.”
Claire’s chest hurt.
“And?”
“I told him you’d defend Nolan and stop speaking to us.”
She thought of Richard’s letter.
I confused respecting your choices with ignoring what was happening.
Perhaps Marcus had helped convince him.
“Dad listened to you.”
“Yes.”
Claire stood.
Marcus looked up.
“Will you forgive me?”
She almost hated him for asking.
“Not today.”
“Someday?”
“I don’t know.”
He nodded.
Fair.
At the door, Claire stopped.
“You can still tell the whole truth.”
“I just did.”
“No.”
She looked back.
“You told the part that makes you understandable.”
His face changed.
“The whole truth is the part that makes you guilty.”
Claire left.
Three hours later, Marcus instructed his attorney to resume negotiations with prosecutors.
But by then Nolan had already provided bank records Marcus believed were destroyed.
Their race to betray each other was almost over.
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Only one question remained.
Who would reach the truth first?
